Wednesday, March 11, 2009

With a heavy heart...

I know Ray and Kathy from the car club my husband and I belong to. Ray and Kathy are two of the neatest people on this planet. They are caring, they are generous and they both have the best smiles and laughs. I am a better person for knowing them.

When I photographed this session in November it was for two purposes. First was to update this family with a new portrait since it had been MANY years since the last. The second reason was because their son Dean had been battling cancer for quite a while. They wanted to make sure to have this wonderful memory of their entire family together to cherish forever.

So, on this cold November day we gathered on the steps of the UW Tacoma Campus... the sun was actually peaking through the clouds. So other than everyone being chilly, it couldn't have been a more perfect Fall day.

Ray & Kathy

Dale & Elizabeth and their 4 adorable munchkins.

Dean & Amy and their three cutie kiddos

Mom & Dad and their two sons Dale & Dean.

The Whole Family!!! All 13 of them! As tricky as I thought it would be to photograph 13 people... not too bad, but the family had a lot to do with it. Ü They sure did a great job.

Ray and Kathy with all of their grand children!

This family... Amazing! To be in their presence, you can just feel the love. They make you feel warm and welcome the first time you meet them. And although I had just met 11 of the 13 people in this photograph, I felt like I already knew them.

On February first, Dean passed away after a 3 and a half year battle with Cancer. This was to be the same day that he was born to Ray & Kathy Helt 37 years before.

I post this in Dean's memory and with a heart full of love for his family.

I'm a friend of Nika's and I was just browsing your blog and thinking about doing family pictures. I was totally surprised to come upon this post...Ray and Kathy are our neighbors. We love them dearly and your words about them couldn't be more true! The photos that you took of their family are gorgeous!! You captured their love, for sure! How wonderful of you to be able to do this for them before Dean passed.

You do amazing work! I'll be in touch! I want to gather our whole family for pictures!